IF you've ever seen the terribly graffitied railroad bridge over the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in unincorporated west Whittier, you've probably wondered why it has never been cleaned up.

An article in this newspaper last Friday finally told us why, but didn't hold out any hope for it being cleaned up any time soon.

Apparently, there is a stalemate in a debate over whose responsibility it is to pay to have the graffiti removed or painted over on the bridge located between Whittier and Beverly boulevards.

The article last week told how La Puente resident Richard Oropeza, who drives under the bridge every day to and from his job, tried to find out who is responsible.

It turned out that the private owner of the bridge, 79-year-old Los Angeles developer Arnold Carlson, who bought the railroad span from Union Pacific Railroad, takes the view that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is responsible for keeping the bridge clean.

Carlson produced contract language from 1964, when the bridge was built, in which Union Pacific granted an easement to Caltrans for the "construction, maintenance and operation' of the bridge.

Caltrans says it is only responsible for maintaining the abutments that support the bridge, while the owner is responsible for the bridge itself.

So, what does this mean?

It means that if you're wealthy enough to buy a railroad bridge over a metropolitan freeway, you can abdicate any responsibility to keep it fixed up, even if it offends thousands of people daily and glorifies vandalism.

And, if you happen to be a huge bureaucracy assigned to maintaining freeway-related structures, you can justify ignoring the public good in order to save a few dollars on a paint job.

And, how is it that freeway structures throughout this sprawling county can be tagged over and over and no one ever gets caught?

After our story appeared last Friday, a woman who commutes daily in the wee hours of the morning on the 605 Freeway called the reporter who wrote the story. She said more than once she has seen taggers "hanging like monkeys' from the bridge as she drives past.

Come on people, how hard can it be to do something about this?

Why can't Caltrans clean up the bridge and send the bill to the bridge owner or, perhaps, seek a compromise and bill the owner for half of the expense and pay the other half?

In addition, how about a stakeout to nab some of the taggers. It would be nice, for a change, to see a billboard beside the freeway with the picture of a convicted freeway tagger and his or her name as well as the sentence received for conviction.

It's time to fight back.